wrestling / News

FITE TV CEO Mike Weber On How CM Punk’s Starrcast Appearance Came Together, If He Thinks Punk Will Announce Anything

August 29, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Ultimate Beastmaster

– Speaking with Jeffrey Harris for the 411 Interview Podcast, FITE TV CEO Mike Weber talked about how CM Punk’s appearance at Starrcast came together and what we might be able to expect from the panel. Punk is set to appear at the convention on Saturday before All Out for a Q&A, which will be available through FITE TV and on traditional cable and satellite PPV.

Weber credited Starrcast creator Conrad Thompson for putting the whole panel together and weighed in on whether he expected any big announcement to come from Punk. You can see highlights below:

On how Punk’s panel at Starrcast came together: “Well, Conrad Thompson’s the master negotiator, and he was able to reach out because he had such credibility in this line of work and negotiate a deal with CM. And we’re very excited about him being able to do that. I was not involved in the direct negotiation, that’s where Conrad excels in bringing all these fantastic people to the platform there. And we’re very excited about having him on there, because we think he’s a great draw. I can’t wait to see it, he’s going to be interviewed by Mike Johnson of PWInsider, so it should be a very good one. CM specially picked Mike, because it’s somebody he trusts and feels comfortable with, and that goes a long way. If you’re talking with someone you trust and feel confident, you’re going to probably going to dive deeper and not give a bunch of one-word answers while being interviewed.”

On not being involved in the negotiations: “No, I obviously knew they were going on and fully encouraged Conrad to do everything he could to do it. But Conrad is the one who made that work. I can’t take — I can take zero credit for that.”

On FITE’s reaction to the deal being made: “We thought it was going to take Starrcast to the next level, which it has already. And we thought so much of it that we’re making his event also on regular PPV for $14.99 on DirecTV and Dish for just the people who all they care about is the CM Punk interview, [it’s] available on every platform that’s available to watch on right now.”

On if he thinks Punk might make a big announcement at Starrcast: “I’m not anticipating any. I mean, boy [laughs] I talked to Jim Ross yesterday about this, and this is going to be one of the most highly-reviewed interviews of people trying to figure out what he said, or ‘what he meant by that!’ So we do anticipate a lot of rumors maybe starting from it, or people reading this and that. But right now I do not anticipate him showing up on Saturday night at AEW. I think he’s there to do his appearance there at Starrcast, which I think will be fantastic [and] be very well-received. His fans will enjoy it. What the next steps are? It’s wrestling, you can’t tell. [laughs] I mean, he could be anywhere. I’ve heard all kinds of rumors out there, and after this weekend, I’m sure there will be even more.”

In the full interview, Weber talks about this weekend’s Starrcast III, how CM Punk’s panel came together and whether Punk will be making any big announcements, working with NJPW, how AEW’s debut on TNT will affect FITE’s relationship with the promotion, the future of Starrcast and more.

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Introduction (0:00)
On his anticipation level for Starrcast III and other upcoming shows (0:45)
On how involved FITE is in putting together panels and the like at Starrcast (2:21)
On Sean Mooney, Tony Schiavone and Davey Crockett’s involvement at Starrcast II (4:32)
On how CM Punk’s panel at Starrcast III came together (5:58)
On if he thinks Punk will be making an announcement of some kind at Starrcast (8:46)
On whether this could be FITE TV’s biggest weekend to date (10:36)
On why people are still interested in CM Punk despite his being away from wrestling for years (11:28)
On Conrad Thompson’s plans for the future of Starrcast (13:18)
On whether FITE TV is interested in having a greater role in Starrcast (15:52)
What it’s been like working with AEW to present All Out on FITE (16:43)
On NJPW’s streaming service and working with them (19:23)
On the upcoming launch of Disney+, streaming service bundling and the challenges of streaming live content (21:07)
On AEW debuting on TNT and if BR Live will impact FITE’s relationship with AEW (25:58)
Whether there are any new partnerships for FITE to announce (27:04)
On what fans can expect from Starrcast on FITE (29:33)